The People vs. Larry Flynt (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of The People vs. Larry Flynt (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Very good film
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very good film. It's well acted and well directed. I agree with the review written by Dennis Littrel., but write to add just two thoughts:First, this is the type of film that should be made more often. It'd doesn't fall into the typical Hollywood formula of smaltzh, but instead actually has a message. Hate Larry Flynt if you will, but respect the fact that he did us all a great service by testing the limits of our tolerance for 1st Amendment values. It's a great civic lesson.
Second, Coutney Love is OUTSTANDING in this role. She has a charisma that cuts through the screen, and reaches the viewer in ways that I never would have expected from her. Ok, maybe playing a junkie was not much of a stretch for her. But she does it with pure magnestism. Bravo to Ms. Love.
Movie Review: Ugly but worth the viewing
Summary: 4 Stars
Strange bedfellows, those two, Jerry Falwell and Larry Flynt. I never liked either one of them, which is why it has taken me so long to get around to watching this movie. Make no mistake about it, the central point here is that Falwell and Flynt are two sides of the same coin: pick your pig.Milos Forman's direction starts slow and is almost without distinction nearly three-quarters through, yet the entire movie is saved by that last quarter after Flynt is shot. I think there is something to be said for boring your audience a little in the beginning, showing them only the tired and ordinary just so they will better appreciate it when the going gets good. And it does. I think this strategy worked on me: after rot gut even vin ordinaire can seem like the ambrosia of the gods.
Turning Larry Flynt into an American hero, as this movie does, may seem a bit of a stretch, yet consider the obverse: Jerry Falwell as our hero. Now THAT is a bit scary.
Courtney Love proves herself to be a wonderful exhibitionist (but we knew that) as well as a natural and talented actress (we didn't know that) who knows how to have a good time in front of the camera; and I think that is half the task for an actor: love the red light; love the audience looking at you. Woody Harrelson, in keeping with Foreman's direction seems to be walking through the part in the beginning, looking almost like a clone of himself from Natural Born Killers (1994) with a fey hair style; but he picks up steam, and as the paralyzed Flynt really comes to life and gives a fine performance. Ed Norton is also excellent and so believable and winning as Flynt's lawyer, especially in the scene before the Supreme Court. Think about it: in this movie the lawyer is the good guy!
Politically speaking this is a no brainer, a shoot the fish in the barrel exercise: First Amendment wins out over public figures wanting to manage their images. Thank you. And what IS more obscene, sex or war? Strange that that should be a question, but it is and has been for at least a couple of millennia. When I was young I used to wonder why. Wasn't it obvious that sex was good and war was bad? However, it is not so simple. It turns out that sex (which leads to the creation of new karmas) is really just the obverse side of the coin of war. You make `em, in some circumstances, you have to kill `em. That's why the other guy's sexuality is offensive, and why we have prudes. Sex really is war by other means. I always think of the example of Easter Island where initially they practiced a fertility religion until the island's protein resources ran out, and then came the repression of reproduction and sex. Christianity is a religion one step removed from the old fertility religions in this sense. It is paranoid (in its more conservative forms) about sexuality because it has evolved to fear unbridled reproduction. Of course its practitioners, like Jerry Falwell, have no understanding of this: they are just social and political animals acting out their social and political roles.
In short, like most things in life, this film is a flawed but interesting venture. Incidentally, the so-called "unusual" marriage between Flynt and Althea Leasure is one of the things that makes this movie good: their marriage is a lot more like real life than ninety percent of what we see in the movies.
Movie Review: Great movie, definitely worth seeing
Summary: 5 Stars
I can understand that a lot of people on this board don't like the topic of this movie, but that shouldn't keep them from enjoying a fantastic movie. I personally found this movie absolutely hilarious--Larry Flynt is definitely a colorful character, as is Althea. Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton give outstanding performances. It's really amazing to see how a dirt poor red neck kid can end up being a millionaire. You'll be left wondering what stunt is Larry Flynt going to pull next. So what if Hustler is disgusting to you? As Edward Norton said, you have the right to not buy it. A brilliant, brilliant film. I would definitely recommend picking this one up.Movie Review: A Decent Movie About an Indecent Man
Summary: 2 Stars
The Peope vs. Larry Flynt is a well directed, (mostly) well acted, but poorly written movie about a sick man who, by pure dumb luck, may have become a defender of the 1st ammendment. Milos Forman, as always, employs an engaging visual style and offbeat humor that adds much to the movie. Woody Harrelson is one of my least favorite actors, but his performance was terrific. He didn't make Flynt out to be a hero, just a man out to make a buck. Courtney Love was decent, but she seemed to be in over her head in the more dramatic scenes. Edward Norton delivered a pitch-perfect performance as the lawyer who puts up with a lot more than he should from his client. The problem with this movie is the writing. It was written by the same people who wrote Ed Wood (a movie a greatly admire), but features none of the emotional resonance that it should. The characters are not very well developed, they seemed pretty flat. What is worse is that the events don't flow very well, there are too many narrative gaps and events aren't explained very well. No matter what your opinion is of Larry Flynt, it is an interesting movie that is worth watching, but not worth buying.Movie Review: So so
Summary: 2 Stars
It is absurd to assume that Larry Flynt has one noble bone in his body...not that he should be vilified either. And this movie suffers from what bio-movies often suffer from: it is a series of events (as are most lives) and not a well rounded narrative STORY. And why the film-makers went to such lengths to get the insurance company to let them cast Courtney Love (who they didn't want in the film because of her alleged drug abuse), I don't know. Courtny Love gives a dreadful, self-conscious performance. It reminded me of how David Selznick went to great lengths to get Leslie Howard cast as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone With the Wind," and Leslie Howard is so horrible in that part, that he almost sinks an otherwise great film. The acting in LARRY FLYNT is solid all around, the best thing about the film, except for Courtney Love, who almost sinks the film. Woody Harrelson, who I find annoying as a human being, is terrific as Larry Flynt, and acting students should see the film just for him...but for others: it's a last resort movie.